B R E AT H I N G A N D

EXCHANGE OF
GASES
GAS EXCHANGE
• Carbon dioxide gas is produced and must be removed from the body of animals. In
plants, carbon dioxide, a waste product of respiration, is needed for photosynthesis.
Carbon dioxide must be available to plant cells, and oxygen gas must be removed.
Animals have to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxde in order to survive.
• Gas exchange is one of the essential prerequisites for life to continue. Diffusion
across a moist membrane is the basic mechanism of gas exchange. Diffusion is a
process by which molecules move from an area of higher concentration to an area of
lower concentration in the direction following a concentration gradient. In living
organisms, molecules move across cell membranes which are moistened by fluid.
GAS EXCHANGE IN ANIMALS

• In order to survive, animals need to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide are two of the many gases found in the environment
which move by diffusion across moist membranes in animals. Breathing is a
mechanical process by which oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxide is released.
The exchange of gases through inhalation and exhalation is called respiration.
GAS EXCHANGE SYSTEM
• The respiratory system’s function is to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide between the
air and the cells. In simple animals, exchange of gases directly occurs with the
environment, while in some animals like mammals, breathing is done through the body's
nasal passages. The general body surface of most animals lacks sufficient area to
exchange gases for the whole organism
• The solution is a respiratory organ that is extensively folded or branched, thereby
enlarging the available surface area for gas exchange. Air is a respiratory medium with
plentiful O2. Water has much less oxygen and greater density and viscosity, making gas
exchange more challenging in water than in air. The respiratory surfaces (organs) where
gas exchange with the respiratory medium occurs must be moist, thin, and large enough
to supply the whole body
VA R I O U S T Y P E S O F G A S E X C H A N G E
SYSTEMS USED BY ANIMALS:
• 1. Skin system - The skin or the body surface system is also known as the integumentary
system. Animals that live in moist environments like worms and amphibians used their
moist body surface to breathe in oxygen. Capillaries or tiny vessels lie just below the
skin of worms to facilitate gas exchange between the external environment and the
circulatory system. The skin of frogs is made up of very thin tissues, allowing smooth
exchange of gases.
• 2. Gills system - Fish and other aquatic animals use their gills to take up the dissolved
oxygen from water. Gills are thin tissue filaments that are highly branched and folded.
When water passes over the gills, the dissolved oxygen in water rapidly diffuses across
the thin membranes of the gills into the bloodstream. On the other hand, carbon dioxide
in the bloodstream of the animals leaves through the gills.
VA R I O U S T Y P E S O F G A S E X C H A N G E
SYSTEMS USED BY ANIMALS:
• 3. Tracheal system - Insects, such as grasshoppers and spiders, use their tracheae to facilitate gas
exchange. Tracheae consist of air tubes called spiracles forming network in the bodies of insects.
Spiracles connect to the tubular network allowing oxygen to pass into the body and regulate the
diffusion of CO2 and water vapor
• 4. Lung system - A pair of organs divided into small chambers filled with capillaries called lungs
are found inside the cavity of land animals such as humans. The tube that connects the nose and
mouth to the lungs is called trachea. The trachea divides into two main bronchi which further
subdivides into bronchioles. The tip of each bronchiole is called alveolus wherein actual gas
exchange occurs. Lying flat at the bottom of the chest cavity is the diaphragm, a large muscle that
aids in breathing by moving up and down. The rib cage encloses the lungs and protects the
respiratory organs and the heart. Air is inhaled through the nasal cavity and crosses the surfaces
of the mucous membrane. From the nasal cavity, air passes through the pharynx and the larynx to
the trachea. Particulates in the air are removed in the nasal passages preventing damage to the
trachea and lungs.
VA R I O U S T Y P E S O F G A S E X C H A N G E
SYSTEMS USED BY ANIMALS:
• When we breathe in or inhale, the diaphragm contracts and the ribs move up making the
size of the chest cavity larger, allowing for more space and less air pressure inside the
lungs. Air is pushed in from the outside where there is higher pressure and is pushed into
the lungs where there is lower air pressure. When we breathe out or exhale, the
diagphram relaxes and the ribs and chest cavity return to their original place, decreasing
the space and increasing the air pressure inside the lungs. Air is pushed to the outside
where there is lower pressure.
GAS EXCHANGE IN PLANTS
• Plants exchange their gases with the environment in a straightforward way. In order to
carry on photosynthesis, green plants need a supply of carbon dioxide and a means of
disposing oxygen. An abundant supply of carbon dioxide must be present in the leaf of a
plant and oxygen from photosynthesis must be removed. Contrary to animals, plants do
not have specialized organs for gas exchange. In aquatic plants, water passes among the
tissues providing a medium for gas exchange, while in terrestrial plants, air enters the
tissues and the gases diffuse into the moisture bathing the internal cells. Each part of the
plant takes care of its own gas exchange needs. Diffusion is the only process through
which much needed oxygen is supplied to all the cells of the plants. Diffusion occurs in
leaves, roots, and stems.
D I F F U S I O N I N L E AV E S
• Plant leaf consists of stomata (singular: stoma) that allow gas exchange between the
surrounding air and the photosynthetic cells inside the leaf. These stomata regulate Carbon
dioxide uptake for photosynthesis and are the major avenues for the evaporative loss of
water. The term stoma refers to the stomatal pore flanked by two guard cells, which regulate
the opening and closing of the pore.
• In between the upper and lower epidermal layers of a leaf is a region called the mesophyll.
Mesophyll consists mainly of parenchyma cells specialized for photosynthesis. There are two
distinct areas of leaves: the palisade mesophyll consisting of one or more layers of elongated
parenchyma cells on the upper part of the leaf and the spongy mesophyll below the palisade
mesophyll. These parenchyma cells are more loosely arranged, with a labyrinth of air spaces
through which CO2 and oxygen circulate around the cells and up to the palisade region. The
air spaces are particularly large in the vicinity of the stomata, where gas exchange with the
outside air occurs.
DIFFUSION IN ROOTS AND STEMS
Roots
• Plant roots take oxygen from the air that is present in between the particles of soil. Root
hair, an extension of the root epidermal cells, is in direct contact with the soil. Oxygen
diffuses in the root hair, reaching all the other cells of the roots. It is through the root
hairs that only carbon dioxide gets diffused into them and is expelled from the roots of a
plant. Respiration in roots of the plant occurs by diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide
through the root hairs.
Stems
• The hard stem of big plants and trees has lenticels in them. Lenticels are in the small area
of a bark. These cells are loosely placed, allowing gaseous exchange of respiratory gases
between air and living cells of the woody stem.